A pounding on the door interrupted them. “City Guard! Open up!”

Tiana paled. “They found us already?”

Ethan’s mind raced through options.

‘Fight or flee?’ He thought.

He glanced at the window, striding over to push it open. A fifteen-story drop greeted him, no guards visible below.

He turned to Tiana. “Open the door.”

“What? Where are you going?” Her eyes widened as she glanced between him and the open window. “Don’t tell me you’re jumping! We’re fifteen stories up!”

“Trust me…”

Without hesitation, he vaulted over the sill and disappeared.

Tiana’s heart leapt into her throat. She rushed to the window, expecting to see his broken body on the pavement.

Nothing.

The pounding on her door intensified. “OPEN IT NOW!”

She closed the window with shaking hands. “Coming!”

Two armored guards burst in the moment she unlocked it, weapons drawn. Their eyes scanned the apartment, finding nothing but research papers and coffee cups.

“We’re looking for a suspect who attacked General Han’s son,” the lead guard announced, stalking through her living space. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Tiana said, forcing her voice to remain steady.

The second guard checked the bathroom, the closets, even under the bed. Finding nothing, he moved to the window and threw it open, leaning out to scan the building’s exterior.

The first guard said, looming over her. “A District Three citizen. Where is he hiding?”

Tiana swallowed hard.

“I don’t know,” she said, the truth making her lie more convincing. “I tried to ask him to give himself in, but he didn’t listen.”

The guards exchanged skeptical glances.

“You expect us to believe—”

“Search the apartment again if you want,” Tiana interrupted, gesturing around. “Does it look like I’m hiding anyone?”

The lead guard stepped closer, his breath hot on her face. “You realize harboring a criminal is an offense punishable by—”

A third guard burst through the door. “Sir! They’ve spotted him two blocks west!”

Without another word, they rushed out, leaving Tiana alone with her racing heart and a slammed door.

She collapsed onto her couch, her mind spinning.

Had Ethan somehow survived that fall? How? And where was he now?

A few minutes later, a soft tapping sound answered her question.

It came from the window.

Tiana approached the window cautiously, her heart hammering against her ribs. The tapping came again, more insistent.

She drew back the curtain and gasped.

Ethan hung from the ledge outside, one hand gripping the stone while the other knocked on her window. He looked completely unbothered by the fifteen-story drop beneath him.

She yanked the window open. “How—?”

“Can I come in first? A bit exposed out here.”

Tiana stepped back as he swung himself inside with effortless grace, not even breathing hard.

“You jumped from a fifteen-story window,” she stated flatly.

“Technically, I climbed down the side of the building. Well, mostly.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Says the researcher studying beasts.” He grinned, brushing dust from his clothes. “This world’s full of impossible things.”

Tiana sank into a chair, staring at him like he’d grown a second head. “The guards said they spotted you two blocks away.”

“They indeed did. Because I made them spot me,” Ethen replied.

Tiana sank into a chair, staring at him like he’d grown a second head. “The guards said they spotted you two blocks away.”

“They indeed did. Because I made them spot me,” Ethan replied, the corner of his mouth lifting in a half-smile.

“Then how—”

“I’m simply fast. Lost them in seconds, then climbed back up here.” He brushed the dust from his sleeve like scaling a fifteen-story building was nothing unusual.

Tiana nodded slowly, processing this new reality where the once-timid Ethan could outmaneuver city guards and climb sheer walls.

“What are you going to do now?”

Ethan shrugged, the weight of his new circumstances settling on his shoulders. “To be honest, I’m not sure. Worst case, I’ll leave the city and live in the forest.”

“That’s dangerous—”

“I know, but it’s my only option.” His eyes met hers. “And beasts are safer than humans sometimes.”

Tiana crossed the room, her mind racing through scenarios that could help Ethan survive the hurdle.

“You could request asylum at the research facility. With your… abilities, they’d protect you.”

“Yes, they would for a short period of time,” Ethan said, leaning against the window frame. “Then they’d discard me once the general applies enough pressure.”

“Then let me help you.” Tiana grabbed a notebook from her desk, fingers working furiously across the page. “We could reach out to the orphanage. They might let you stay there for a while. The guards would never look there.”

She continued scribbling, talking more to herself than to him. “Mrs. Chen still runs the place. She always liked you. And they’re chronically understaffed, so having another adult around…”

Ethan watched her planning his escape, a strange feeling blooming in his chest. In his previous life, no one had ever fought for him like this. Even in this life, his predecessor’s memories showed him always standing alone.

“Why would you risk yourself for me?”

Tiana paused, pencil hovering over paper. Her eyes met his, something vulnerable and fierce in them simultaneously.

“Because you just did the same for me. With Han.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep